Monsters
by Rikaril
Summary: They were meant to be failures, but they were monsters. they gorge on the blood of others trying to become stronger. WARNING DARK PSYCHOTIC. INSPIRED BY FAR CRY 3. Read about it or play it and you'll understand the meaning of INSANITY
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Born in Fire Baptized in Blood

Four individuals sat at a small booth in non-descript restaurant. Three of the individuals were small children that were no older than twelve, and the other was an adult. The first of the children was a tall lanky boy pale with black hair that was tied at the top in a shape reminiscent of a pineapple, his eyes were brown almost black in color, and he had a pair of small earrings; he wore a mesh shirt with a small low cut jacket over it that he left open, and a pair of black pants with black sandals. On the left sleeve of the jacket that he wore there was a headband with a spiral in the shape of a leaf signifying the child as a shinobi of Konaha.

The second child was also male, and he was taller than the others, but he appeared to be more bulky. This was due to the fact that he wore a long grey jacket that seemed to cover his entire body. The sleeves were so long that his hands were neigh invisible at most times, and the collar of the jacket covered the bottom half of his face leaving only his nose and eyes visible though the latter were obscured by thick dark shades. His hair was a medium brown, and it puffed upward in a spiky afro. His headband rested on his forehead

The last child was a short blonde boy. He had deep blue eyes that seemed to be as clear as the seas themselves. His blonde hair was spiky and went out in all directions, but it only seemed to be held in place by the headband that was wrapped securely on his forehead. He wore an orange jumpsuit with blue shoulders and a white collar with a pair of blue sandals.

The adult was a rather tall man with a muscular build. He had dark brown hair that might be mistaken for black, along with a long goatee. He wore a green flak jacket that displayed his status as a jounin, a headband on his forehead, and black pants with black sandals.

The jounin observed the three genin in front of him, and he was instantly regretting their chances of passing his test. He could tell from the way they sat how they would act during the test, and the files that he had read on each of them did not help much either. Shikamaru the pineapple as he mentally nicknamed the boy was fairly smart, but extremely lazy, and he probably wouldn't put up much of a fight. Shino –the jacket wearing boy- was also smart, and he would at least try, but would probably give up when he realized that it was a futile endeavor. The last boy Naruto was a failure. Everything that he had read about the boy pointed to that end, and this was just going to be an exercise to get the boy to give up on being a shinobi. It would be better that way, and besides Shino and Shikamaru would have a chance to try again next year.

So with his mind made up he decided to forego making them introduce themselves, but instead he was just going to tell them to prepare of the test. "As you three know my name is Sarutobi Asuma, and I have been selected to be your jounin sensei. However that is a lie."

Naruto let out a loud gasp, and Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, however Shino gave no visible reaction. He continued ignoring them. "You were chosen as my prospective genin team, but in order for you to become my team you have to pass a test that I have set up, so tomorrow morning meet me at training ground ten. There you will fight me with everything you've got until you're incapacitated or I am. Then I will judge your skills, and if I deem them satisfactory then you will become my team."

With that said he called for the bill for their lunch paid, and left the three genin in silence. Naruto scowled and grumbled for a moment before getting up to leave, but he was held by the surprisingly strong grip of Shino.

"I believe that it is imperative we devise a decisive course of action for the situation." He spoke in a monotone.

Naruto only looked at him in confusion, causing Shikamaru to face palm. "What Shino means Naruto is that we need to make a plan, so tell me Naruto what do you think you can do?"

Naruto's face lit up at that. "Well I can do this cool shadow clone jutsu." He put his hands together in a cross seal, but he was stopped when Shino spoke.

"Naruto-san I know what the shadow clone jutsu entails. However with your poor taijutsu skill it would be ill fit to serve any purpose save a momentary distraction."

Naruto seemed to understand what Shino had said, and took it as an insult to his skill, but before he could explode in anger Shino continued. "Though you do seem to be rather adept at stealth. Do you by chance have any skills that could supplement it?"

Shikamaru could see that Naruto was once again unable to comprehend what he was told. "He asked if you have any jutsu that will improve your stealth."

Naruto began to rub his chin in thought for a few moments before snapping his finger. "My transformation jutsu could help."

"Naruto I don't think a jounin would be fooled by such a low level illusion." Shikamaru said in a sigh, but Naruto only gave him an incredulous look.

"What do you mean illusion? My transformation is real!"

"Prove it." Naruto huffed at the other boy before holding up a hand sign and shouting transform. A puff of smoke obscured Naruto for a moment, and when it disappeared in Naruto's place stood a female version of the blonde clad in an orange dress.

She made to say something but instead let out an ear piercing shriek when Shikamaru gave one of her large breasts a squeeze. He stared at the hand for a moment before he was bopped on the head by the blonde.

"Why'd you squeeze my boob you pervert?!" she yelled while cracking her knuckles menacingly.

Shino stepped in however to prevent his teammate from suffering any more damage. "He wanted to make sure that the jutsu was real, and now that we know it is I have devised a plan for tomorrow."

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The next day the trio met their jounin sensei at training ground ten at eight am. He studied them and found that the glaring weaknesses that were there before were still there. He sighed before putting out the cigarette that he had been smoking. "Come at me with the intent to kill!"

The genin nodded to one another, but none of them moved. Instead Shikamaru used his shadow possession jutsu to send his shadow toward the jounin who dodged it. While Asuma was dodging the inky black shadow of the Nara child Shino sent a swarm of his insects towards the man with the intent of draining his chakra. Asuma used a small fire ball to force the insects away, and as soon as he launched the jutsu he was attacked from behind by Naruto.

The boy threw a sloppy punch to the back of the jounin's head, but the man tilted his head to the side to avoid it before retaliating with and elbow that caught the blonde in the stomach, but instead of gripping his stomach in pain the boy disappeared in a puff of smoke. Asuma had heard about his use of the shadow clones, but he had not thought it to be true. He for a moment thought this would afford the team a chance to impress him, but he was mistaken when more clones appeared and launched a frontal assault.

Taking the clones out was child's play for Asuma. He did have to dodge the Nara's shadow and the Aburame's insects from time to time, but they were both running low on chakra. He decided to knock the two out and end it before finding the real Naruto who was hiding somewhere. He used a body flicker to appear behind Shino. Now this would have been a good thing for the jounin if only he had taken one thing into consideration. Behind Shino was a large stump that resembled the other stumps that were next to it; however there are usually only three stumps in the training grounds. So when he appeared with his back turned to that stump in preparation to take Shino out he was not prepared for the stump to transform into Naruto who rushed with as much speed as he could muster towards the jounin's exposed back with kunai in hand.

Asuma didn't realize what was going on until he felt the pain of a sharp object piercing him in the middle of the back severing his spinal cord. He let out an agonizing scream, but it was silenced when Shino turned around and stabbed him in the stomach with a kunai of his own. Even Shikamaru had rushed over to the man when he realized that he was going for Shino. He also had a kunai implanted in the man's chest impaling him in the heart.

The three genin expected the jounin to be replaced with a log at any moment, but it never happened. Instead the light in the jounin's eyes dimmed as he coughed a little blood and slumped unceremoniously to the floor. It was clear to the three genin what they had done.

For a few moments no one dared speak a word. As though not stating what they knew would make it false, but they knew what they had done. Shino let out a sigh before turning to Naruto. "Naruto please make some clones so that we can transport him to the Hokage." Naruto nodded dumbly before doing as he was told.

The walk to the Hokage tower was one that they would never forget. The villagers glared at Naruto harder than they ever had before, and for the first time Shikamaru and Shino were regarded in the same way. The ninja also looked at them with disgust and hatred, but they did their level best to ignore it.

When they reached their destination they ignored the secretary who screamed and yelled at them. They simply barged into the Hokage's office. The wizened old man was filling out some paper work, and was about to admonish whomever it was who had barged into his office, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the body that they were carrying. His eyes narrowed at the three. "What happened to my son?!" he asked in any icy voice that held an ocean of killing intent.

Shino once again became the spokes person for the team told their story to the Hokage. Now Sarutobi Hiruzen was not one to hold grudges, but to know that both of his children and his wife were dead did not sit well with him. He loved Naruto like a grandson but to know that he was responsible for taking one of the last vestiges of his family away from him shattered that love.

Hiruzen turned to the three. "I have decided that the three of you will be commissioned as a team, however you will not receive a jounin sensei, and you are from this day forward not allowed to be trained by any other member of the shinobi forces of Konoha directly nor indirectly. You are to report to the mission room every morning at eight am to receive a mission unless I otherwise state the opposite. You are dismissed."

The three genin left the room as Hiruzen stared at the lifeless eyes of his son. He would find a way to make those three pay for what they had done to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Just one bite

The next day the trio of newly instated Konoha shinobi made their way to the Hokage tower. Like the pervious day before they were met with harsh looks and killing intent, but they shrugged off besides they had other things on their minds. All three of them looked as though they had been on a journey into the depths of the abyss. Their cloths were ruffled, torn, and covered in mud and dirt (all of which did not belong to them.). Their eyes hang droopily showing that none of them had slept well, and every so often if one were close enough the sounds of grumbling stomachs could be heard. All in all it was very easy to tell that they were going through shit.

When they arrived at the tower they went into the mission briefing room that was filled with several chunin plus the Sandiame himself, but there were no other genin teams as they had yet to finish their morning training.

The aging leader of the village looked up and them and gave them a nod. His face was noticeably devoid of the grand fatherly smile that he normally gave to his shinobi, but that was understandable to anyone.

Shikamaru decided that it was prudent to greet the man lest trouble brew again. "Good morning Hokage-sama squad ten reporting for duty."

"Good you're on time for your first mission." He reached into a small basket that contained several scrolls marked with the letter C. one of the chunin made to say something but he was silenced with a fierce glare. "Your mission is C ranked. You are to clear a bandit base camp. Should you run into any missing nin then the mission will be increased accordingly, however you will need to provide their heads for proof of any accomplishments. No bandits are to be spared. Please take an hour to collect any items that may be required for the mission and then take your leave from the southern gate. You are dismissed."

The three genin nodded before turning and leaving. When they exited the building Shikamaru and Shino turned to Naruto who had begun to cry. "Naruto what's wrong?" asked the pineapple.

Naruto began to furiously wipe his face in a vain attempt to stem the flow of hot tears streaming down his face, but they wouldn't stop. "The old man is like the rest of them now! He hates me!" he choked out in a body racking sob

Shikamaru didn't know what had come over him, but he engulfed the blonde in a hug, and surprisingly so did Shino. "It's alright Naruto… last night when my father confronted me about what had happened I was banished from the clan."

"As was I." Shino added in as stoic as ever. "In fact Shikamaru and I met up before we picked you and we tried to get us breakfast from any of the restaurants in town, but we were refused service in them all. We also know that you were not provided service at the ramen stand that you frequent."

Shikamaru released Naruto from the hug and turned the boy to face him. "You see we're not different. We're all in the same boat, and we have to stick together and deal with this. You understand?" Naruto wiped his face clean of any lingering tears and nodded.

The trio spent the remainder of their hour looking for a place to purchase weapons and other supplies, but like the restaurants they were not allowed to buy anything. This was devastating for Shino and Shikamaru who were kicked out of their clans, and because of this they were forbidden from using any of the clan techniques. To ensure that they wouldn't Shikamaru's memory of the clan jutsu had been repressed by Inochi, and Shino's hive had been removed. This essentially left them defenseless, but Naruto had a plan. He taught them his version of the transformation. It had taken them several tries to get it down but soon they got the hang of it. The technique used surprisingly little chakra, and it allowed the user to use chakra in their assumed form. All in all it was great for them.

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The journey to the bandit camp would have normally been bland, but for Naruto, Shino, and Shikamaru it was great. Each of them had chosen an animal form to assume for the duration of the mission. Shikamaru took the form of a large black wolf, Shino was an equally large brown tiger, and Naruto was a large yellow shark. Naruto was able to use the shark form because the mission took them next to a river the entire time. Even the bandits' camp was situated on the shore of a lake.

They arrived at the bandit camp ahead of schedule due to the sheer speed of their animal forms. The trip should have taken them a day, but it only took four hours making the technique a great time saver, but their prolonged use of the technique had consequences that were further accented by their conditions.

The three of them had all chosen predator animals for their forms, and large predator animals at that. This plus their hunger from not having eaten in a day set something off when they reached the bandit camp.

The bandits were all gathered on the banks of the river, and when Naruto saw some of their legs dangling in the clear waters he struck. With lighting speed the large unusual yellow skinned shark's powerful razor sharp teeth ripped into the first man, and with a swift tug he we pulled under the water which soon turned red with his blood. The bandits scanned the water looking for the beast that had taken one of them, but they had to cut their search short when a wolf crashed into their leader latching onto his throat and with ripping it out with prejudice. Other men met a similar fate thanks to the large shark and a tiger that seemed to come out of nowhere.

After only a few minutes all of the bandits had met their ends, and the animals were feasting. Of course these animals were human at heart, and must have been trying to stop themselves from feasting on the corpses of their enemies, and they had. They kept telling themselves just one bite, just one more, JUST ONE MORE FUCKING BITE! BUT EVERY GODDAMED TIME THEY TOOK ANOTHER BITE THEY REALIZED HOW FUCKING GOOD IT TASTEDSO GODDAMED GOOD!

So they continued to gorge themselves on the flesh of their fallen victims. When they had finished they shifted back to their human forms and observed what they had caused. Most would expect them to spill their guts, but instead they simply looked at the bodies before leaving the area.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Of Monsters and Men

It was an hour after their slaughter of the bandits. They had set up a camp not far from the scene of the carnage, and they were sitting around the small fire that they had started. Naruto stared deeply into the orange flames for what seemed to be an eternity before turning and taking a look at his teammates.

Shino and Shikamaru were caked in blood. It stained their clothes, their hair, their fingernails, and it was on their mouths. It was the evidence of what they had done, but none of them had bothered to do anything about it. They couldn't seem to care about their actions, and it was weighing heavily on Naruto. He thought that maybe they were repulsed by their own actions, but they couldn't bring themselves to leave behind any memento of them. He had to know what they were thinking.

"Shino Shikamaru…" he drawled out getting the other's attention. "Did you guys enjoy… you know."

Shikamaru understood the blonde's inability to speak about what had happened. They didn't quite know what to think of themselves and they needed reassuring. Hell even the pineapple didn't know what to think, but he did know one thing: being honest with himself and his teammates was the only way to come to terms with the situation, and a glance at Shino told him that the other boy was in the same state of mind.

"Naruto I'm not going to lie to you." He began shakily, but he in his mind he affirmed himself that he was making the right decision. "I wanted to stop at first, but then… then the taste of the blood was so good, and the flesh." He whispered darkly. "I had to have more. I told myself just one more bite, but I couldn't, and you know what?"

Naruto didn't answer him knowing that the question was rhetorical. "I still want more. I want to taste the blood of other. I want to gorge myself on their flesh."

There was a bit of manic glee in Shikamaru's eyes as he thought about the flesh, but it didn't faze Naruto. Instead it showed that he was not alone. He turned toward Shino in a silent question, and the stoic boy only nodded confirming what he already knew at that point. Naruto smiled and silently thanked whatever deity there was that he was not alone.

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The trio once again assumed their animal forms before heading back to the village. The trip went smoothly like the one before, but they were not placated by the hunger that had assaulted them before. Once they were close to the village they shifted back into their human selves and went to the Hokage's tower to report a successful mission.

When they reached their leader's office they were greeted with a strained smile. It looked to them as though he was disappointed, but he did his best to hide it, and they simply let it go. There was no point in angering the man further.

"Squad ten reporting a successful mission Hokage-sama." Spoke the ever emotionless Shino.

Hiruzen nodded to them before taking out three checks. "Well done. I'll see you all tomorrow morning. Dismissed." The three nodded and took their leave.

As they exited the tower Shikamaru turned to Naruto. "Hey Naruto. Shino and I don't have anywhere to go. Since our clans disowned us they kicked us out of our houses too. You know anywhere we can go?"

Naruto gave a thoughtful look for a moment. He had been kicked out of his apartment after the incident also, but there was a place that they could go to. "Yea I know a place. Just follow me."

Nodding the former clan heirs fell in line behind the blonde. The trio walked for about ten minutes before coming to a large forest that was surrounded by a tall fence with several gates. Naruto walked up to one of the gates that were fairly close to a river. He went inside and dove into the river where shifted into his shark form. Shino and Shikamaru shifted into their forms also.

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The next morning squad ten walked into the mission room at eight am sharp, but they looked different. Firstly they each wore a mask that bore resemblance to their animal forms that they had chosen, and secondly they had changed outfits.

Shino no longer wore his high collared jacket. Instead he wore thick black samurai style armor with two katana strapped to his left side and a tanto to his right.

Shikamaru wore a long black cloak that obscured everything save his hands from view. On his back was a small pack, other than that he had nothing else.

Naruto had taken to wearing a black bandana that hid his hair along with a tight fitting black shirt and similar pants. His hands were covered with thin fingerless gloves that had metal plates on the backs.

All of the shinobi including Hiruzen were put on edge by the appearances of the young men, and some were unable to hide just how uncomfortable they felt. However the team paid them no heed. Instead Shikamaru turned to the old man and greeted him with the usual status of squad ten.

Hiruzen stared at them for a few moments. "Please remove your masks." They did as they were told, and he gave a sigh of relief. He had for a moment thought they were some experienced shinobi there to cause trouble, but it really was the team that he could care less about. He reached into a small basket of scrolls and handed them one. He hadn't bothered looking at it, but he really didn't care as long as one of the missions killed them.

The mission that he had given them was a B-rank bandit clearing mission. It was afforded a B-rank due to several missing nin that had decided to join the rabble raisers.

Unlike their first mission where they took an hour to try and get ready they decided to leave immediately. Unfortunately for Naruto the mission had no water near and thus he was forced to used the road, and to be fair to the blonde Shino and Shikamaru stayed in their human forms. What none of them knew though was that they were being followed by a Konoha ANBU that was assigned to tail them by the Hokage in order to learn of the skills and abilities that they had used to take out the first bandit camp.

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It took the team a day and a half to get within range of the bandit camp. Now most ninja would have taken the time to scout out the camp and find out what was going on, but they were not most ninja. In fact they were unlike any other ninja. Other ninja were killers and assassins that were assigned missions to kill in the quickest and easiest way possible, but they… they were hunters. They were savages that attacked their prey when they felt like it. They were the top of the food chain, and the prey could do nothing about it.

So standing on the outskirts of the camp they all used the transformation, but instead of assuming their animal forms they shifted into hybrid forms. Shikamaru resembled a werewolf, and so did Shino although in a more cat like form. Naruto on the other hand looked like a shark fish fishman. With their transformations complete they rushed into the camp and the slaughter began.

Their new forms allowed them to be stealthier than they were before. They would sit in dark shadowy corners and wait for someone to pass by before pulling them into the darkness and tearing out their throats and eating their hearts. They would snap necks as though they were toothpicks, and their sharp claws would disembowel any one in an instant.

The watching ANBU threw up several times. The stench of blood and bile was too much, and watching them feast on the corpses made even the strongest of stomachs nauseous. When the last of the missing nin and bandits fell the ANBU who was a purple haired female watched in mute horror as they ate until their stomachs were full. She soon decided that enough was enough and she left to report to Hokage-sama what she had seen. Little did she know she would start a dark legend that would rock the elemental nations for a time to come.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Insanity

Hiruzen watched as the three problem children as he had taken to calling them left his office after reporting another round of bandit hunting to be complete. He had to use all of his skill not to kill them at that very moment. He could not lay a hand on them even after what cat had told him.

Once the door closed behind them Hiruzen snapped his fingers and the cat masked woman appeared before him. For a few moments she looked at him say nothing as he silently filled his tobacco pipe with his favorite mix before lighting it and taking a deep sensual puff.

He turned to her and their eyes met, and she could see the seriousness that they held. "Cat I have a mission that is of the utmost importance to the village." She could hear the barely concealed anger that lined his voice, but she said nothing. It was not her place. "No one must know of its details." She nodded.

The old man stood up from his chair and walked over to a large pair of doors that led to the balcony. He opened them and walked to the edge and put his hands on the railings while looking at the pale full moon that lined the sky. "You are to assassinate those three. I don't care how you go about it nor when but I want it done."

The woman nodded and vanished from sight. He let out a small sigh before going to his desk once again, but this time he reached for a small porcelain cup of tea that he had been sipping earlier. When his finger touched the cup he heard a small chipping sound and watched in mute horror as the cup cracked. That was a very bad omen… a terrible omen indeed.

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Naruto, Shino, and Shikamaru reached a small clearing in the forest of death. The clearing contained a large tree that was hollow at the base. That was where they lived, trained, and hunted. They were greeted in the clearing by several shadow clones that Naruto had made prior to leaving the village on mission. The clones were Naruto and his team's secret to obtaining the goods that they used.

The clones like them could use the transformation to change into any form that they wished, and at night they would change into an inconspicuous form and steal whatever they wanted from the stores.

They also took information from the libraries. That was how the team had learned about the tree walking, and water walking exercises which they had begun training in.

The clones smiled at the return of their creator and his teammates before dropping the loot in a large pile and dispelling themselves. Naruto and the other began to sift silently through the goods when Shikamaru caught the scent of an unfamiliar individual.

Shikamaru was able to do so because he never quite dropped the transformation around his nose that way he would be able to track enemies and watch their backs at the same time. The scent of the new threat was approaching rapidly, and Shikamaru realized that their animal or hybrid forms would not be fast enough to deal with the threat.

He raised his hand in a quick motion to show that there was someone coming. Naruto and Shino nodded, and not a moment later the cat masked ANBU came dashing through the clearing at jounin level speed with sword raised, and faster than any of them had ever seen before she made a slash that took Shikamaru's head off. Naruto tried to rush her, but he was rewarded with a slash through the waist cutting him in half. Shino raised his hands in surrender, but she paid it no heed instead she ran her blade through his stomach before ripping it from side to side disemboweling the boy.

Had she paid attention she would have realized that something was wrong. The bodies were there with the wounds that she had inflicted, but there was no BLOOD! SHE HADN'T REALIZED THAT THERE WAS NO BLOOD!

As she stood there in the clearing her skin prickled and the hairs on her neck stood on end when she felt something grab her arm which began to feel as though it were on fire. She turned to look at it, and she saw the sight of Naruto with his hands latched on her arms. The part about the situation that scared her was the fact that half of his body was made of what appeared to be magma. She tried to wretch her arm away, but his grip held tight.

"Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact… same fucking thing… over and over again… expecting shit to change." He released her arm before kicking her in the chest sending her sprawling to the ground. He put his foot on her chest to stop her from getting up. "That… is crazy; but the first time somebody told me that… I don't know I thought he was bullshitting me so I ignored him, but… after a while I started looking around and seeing shit. Everywhere I looked… everywhere I looked all these fucking pricks everywhere I looked, doing the exact same fucking thing… over and over and over and over again thinking: this time its gonna be different; no, no, no, no please…this time its gonna be different…" he took a breath and looked her in the eyes again "I'm sorry I don't like the way-" he cut himself off before punching her in the face causing a crack to appear in her mask before it broke in half. His eyes are filled with anger and hatred. "you're looking at me… okay, do you have a fucking problem in your head? DO YOU THINK I'M BULLSHITTING YOU? DO YOU THINK I'M LYING? FUCK YOU! ." the anger vanished from his face and he took his foot off her chest. She still looked at him with mute horror. "Its okay girl I'm gonna chill. I'm gonna chill… the thing… alright the thing is: the old man already tried to kill us before with all these C rank missions… he's fucking crazy, but its okay. Its water under the bridge Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity?"

With speed she didn't know he possessed he took her own sword and with a deaf swing he cut off the arm that he had grabbed. She screamed in pain as blood gushed from the wound.


	5. Chapter 5

Yugao awoke when she felt ice cold water splash her face. She sputtered for a moment before sitting up and she regretted the action immediately. She felt pain unlike any that she had ever felt course through her body. The memories of the day before came back to her with a vengeance.

She could no longer feel her left arm, but there wasn't any pain either and so against her better judgment she decided to look at the arm. She realized immediately the reason that she could neither fell the limb nor the pain that should have accompanied loosing it; the wound had been violently cauterized and there was nothing but seared flesh where her arm had once been.

She grimaced at that she would never be able to reattach the arm. Her ANBU training kicked in. She knew that she was at a severe disadvantage. She forced herself up again but this time she ignored the pain that she felt. She managed to get off the ground that she had been lying on only to receive a punch to the face that sent her back to the ground.

"Don't try to move you dumb bitch, unless you feel like losing another one of those precious arms of yours." She looked up to see that the speaker was none other than the boy that had crippled her. That was not good in the least for her.

"Why am I still alive?" she asked bitterly while at the same time fighting to keep the grimace from what she knew was a broken jaw off her face.

The blond gave a laugh. "I like that." He said as he leaned over to her and began to caress her face. "Crazy, but not stupid…" he trailed off for a moment before he suddenly moved his hand switching from a light caress to a heavy and painful grip. "You'll make a good toy if you surrender to the insanity."

She didn't like the sound of that. "What if I fight it?" she knew that she shouldn't any such questions but something in her was goading forcing her to ask.

Naruto smile at her. It was not a smile of happiness or even one of a predator. It was a smile of nothing more then pure insanity. "If you fight it then you can kiss your pretty ass goodbye."

Yugao cringed at that. Her life was in her own hands. She could either do as she was told or she could lay there accepting death, and neither option seemed viable to her. She was a loyal shinobi of Konoha and therefore the Hokage, but she wanted to live like all others, but at the same time she didn't want a hollow existence, but in the end life was better than death at least in her opinion.

Naruto suddenly let her go before setting something on her chest. She looked down and was shocked to see that it was her arm. She stared at it for a few moments before looking at Naruto. The blond looked as though he expected her to know what to do. When he realized she didn't he sighed. "Eat it you dumb bitch."

Her eyes widened to an impossible level. The thought of eating flesh make her sick but the thought of eating something that had once belonged to her made her even more so. "I can't." she said weakly.

As soon as she had uttered those words his form shifted and he became a large yellow furred fox. He opened his mouth in a grin revealing his sharp teeth. "Well then I guess you'll make a nice snack."

He rushed toward her, and time seemed to slow for her. She could tell that he wasn't moving as fast as he could have in the form he had chosen, so she had a few moments. she was a shinobi and she had seen and caused her fair share of death and she had had her fair share of near death experiences and this was just like any other. She was a shinobi, and shinobi survived. With that conviction she grabbed her severed arm with her other and brought it to her mouth. She swallowed the saliva that had built up in her mouth before she took her first bite.

Naruto slowed to a stop next to her. She knew that if she stopped then he would kill her and eat her just as she was eating her own arm, so she fought back her erg to retch and she continued. The taste made her skin crawl and she wanted nothing more than to stop but she continued to eat until there was nothing left but bone with small scraps of meat here and there.

Naruto was once again grinning. "Good. We'll let you live for now, but you must eat at least one human everyday. If you refuse then one of us will kill you and eat you." He turned his back to her and trotted away into the forest.

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Hiruzen eyed the purple haired kunoichi with sadness. She had reported that she had been unable to kill the three and that they possessed some strange ability that she was unable to discern. He sighed before taking a puff from his pipe. "Thank you Yugao-chan although you have failed I will still reward you with pay amounting to that of an A-ranked mission, however you are hereby placed into the Shinobi reserves until we are able to replace the limb that you lost. Dismissed."

The woman disappeared in a swirl of leaves leaving the aging man alone to think. He had not expected the three to be able to rebuff an ANBU captain nor deal one that level of injury. Things were not going well for him and that was an understatement.

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After leaving the Hokage's office Yugao began to walk to around. She didn't want to head back to her apartment because she knew that she was in trouble. Before she had gone to the Hokage's office she had gone to the hospital. They had kept her overnight for observation. That meant that she needed to "eat" or she would die, and that was not something that she was looking forward to.

It was while walking around lost in her thoughts that she bumped into a pair of small children. They were a boy and a girl that looked as though they were street urchins with dirty clothing and faces. They made to runaway but she latched onto the girl, and she hit the boy with a look that said follow. The boy only nodded before complying.

Yugao knew what she was about to do was wrong but she wanted to live. She led the two children to her home. Most people thought she and Hyate but that wasn't true. She lived alone, and he came over to visit. Her house was small but it had a basement that no one ever entered, so she led the children to the basement before throwing them in. She followed and before they could react they found their hands cuffed to various pipes.

Yugao took out her sword and cut one of the boy's arms off before cauterizing the wound with a low level fire jutsu that she had learned to use without hand signs. She took the arm and went back upstairs before locking the door. She looked at the limb before sighing and heading to the kitchen. Somehow she was able to debone the arm before taking the meat and making stew. While she cooked and ate she failed to notice the crow that was perched outside her window.


	6. Chapter 6

Hiruzen sat in his office contemplating what he was going to do about the three teens that had become a bane in his existence. He didn't think that there was any way that he could kill them without some kind of backlash even if they were nameless clan-less kids they were still his shinobi, and as they had broken no laws his hands were tied.

It was as he was musing his options that the door to his office opened and in walked his best friend and worst enemy Shimura Danzo. The cripple walked slowly with an assured purpose in his every movement. Sarutobi looked up at him.

"To what do I owe this visit Danzo?" The tone of his voice was neutral but he was feeling anything but. He did not trust the other man even if they could read each other like open books.

Danzo would have smirked as he detected the irritation and hidden anger in the other man's voice but he didn't. They had business to discuss, and pissing each other off was no something that would help in the slightest.

"Hiruzen you and I have been through much together, and I know you." He began while pacing slowly around the room to the window. "You are the light of this village and I am the darkness. You do what is right and I what is necessary. It is for that reason that I ask you to take my advice in this matter of vengeance."

Hiruzen sighed. He knew that Danzo was right. He was not used to acting neither with brutality nor in vengeance, but he needed it for himself and his family. "Then what would you have me do?"

Danzo smiled. "I thought you would never ask old friend."

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Naruto, Shino, and Shikamaru were once again in the Hokage tower awaiting their mission for the day. They didn't want to be in the place any longer then they had to. They had barely avoided death with Yugao and they didn't know if their technique was powerful enough to get them by in a battle with more jounin or ANBU.

The chunin that was handing out the missions took one look at the team a scowled. They were used to that after a month. No one respected them and no one trusted them. They were outcasts, but they ignored it. They had each other and that was all that they needed.

"Uzumaki-san you and your teammates are to report to the Hokage." They nodded and made their way to the stairs that led to the old man's office. After a short walk they found themselves at the familiar oak doors. They didn't bother knocking. Instead they simply went in.

"Good good I was expecting you all." Hiruzen could see that although the three of them seemed to be relaxed they were in fact highly wary of him. He smirked that was a good sign. "I have some news for you."

"What is it Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru asked. He had to focus to keep his body from shifting against his will. It would be no good for them to attack the Hokage.

"As of this moment you three are no longer shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, also your citizenship within Hi no Kuni has been revoked."

As soon as the words left Hiruzen's mouth the trio shifted. Naruto into surprisingly a toad form with a nodachi somewhat resembling one of Jiraiya's toad summons, Shino became a large hawk, and Shikamaru became a large brown bear. They didn't move to attack, but they stood at the ready.

Shino spoke. "If we are no longer shinobi or citizens of your country then what will you do with us."

Hiruzen chuckled. "So you realize that no matter how powerful you have gotten that you are no match for the might of an entire shinobi village… however contrary to what you may think I have no intention of killing you nor locking you up. In fact I am offering you freedom."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at that. "What the fuck are you on about old man?"

Hiruzen could see that Naruto was on a short fuse, and beating around the bush would cause them to attack, and while he was sure that the entire village could take the three of them he was not so sure about not getting killed before they could render aide.

"From this day forth training ground forty-four is now sovereign territory under your rule. What you do with it is your business however you must submit a name for it now."

Shikamaru was shocked. He couldn't believe that something like this was going on, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He looked over to Naruto and glared at him so that he wouldn't say anything, and Shino was already silent looking to him for guidance.

"Very well Sarutobi-dono we would like to call our nation Yami no Kuni (the Land of Darkness)." Hiruzen smiled at that because now he was to get his revenge.

"Good however there is a problem. Due to your country just forming we cannot ally ourselves with you. That means that you are not allowed to step foot within our village nor Hi no Kuni. If you should commit such trespassing then we will declare war on your nation. ANBU will escort you back to your country."

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"We are trapped." Shino stated. There was nothing that they could do and he knew it. They had food and water within the forest of death that was true, but they needed money, and living without any lights, running water or proper shelter was starting to wear on them. Not to mention the fact that they craved human attention.

'I have an idea." Surprisingly Naruto said.

"What do you suggest?" asked Shikamaru.

Naruto smirked. "We just have to create a shinobi village and do missions."

"How can we do that?" the pineapple asked in an exasperated voice.

Naruto's smirk broke into a wide fox like grin. "He said that we aren't allowed to set foot within Hi no Kuni and Konoha, but what if we fly over the village and the country then we would be able to get work."

Shikamaru was shocked. That was a good plan that could definitely work, but there was still one problem. "That could work, but no one would trust an unknown village."

"That is correct Shikamaru, but if we struck out against one of the five great villages and were successful then we would get clients." Shino pointed out.

"That is a good plan. But what do you suggest we do?"

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Within the village of Iwa Onoki the Sandaime Tsuchikage sat at his desk, when a bird tapped the window in his office. Curious he went over to the window and opened it letting the bird in. The bird came into the window and landed on the desk. The old man was about to say something about the creature when the door burst open and his granddaughter Kurotsuchi walked into the room. She was without her teammates, but he wasn't worried. The smirk on her face told him that they were alright.

"Hey jiji you ready to give me that hat yet. I've already completed so many A-ranks."

Onoki gave a laugh. "You're still too young." He was going to say more, but the bird on the desk transformed into a man wearing a long black cloak with a hood that covered his face and before he could react the man grabbed Kurotsuchi and put a kunai to her throat and resting the other hand on her shoulder.

"Aww that was such a touching reunion but I'm afraid that it's over." Onoki glared at the man.

"Who are you!?" Onoki demanded in an attempt to bid time for his granddaughter to gather chakra and perform a replacement. The man laughed.

"Delay tactics won't work on me, but I'll humor you. I am Naruto Jounin commander of Kagegakure no Sato (HiddenShadowVillage)."

Onoki's rage flared at that. "Some no name village dares try to disrupt the peace of my village!" He began to go through a series of hand signs.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Naruto warned as his hand that was resting on her shoulder became lava that burned her shirt before it shifted back to flesh. "You wouldn't want me to melt her pretty little face off now would you?"

Kurotsuchi cringed at the heat and the threat. She had been trying to gather chakra but Naruto had tagged her with a chakra suppression seal at some point so it was useless, and now she was hoping that her grandfather would be able to do something to save her.

Onoki stopped his hand signs. "Looks like old age hasn't made you senile old man, but it has made you ignorant."

Onoki could only gasp as he was grabbed from behind by another black clad figure before ice began to creep up his body and he was encased in it. The one who did it was panting slightly in excursion but otherwise he looked well.

Naruto grinned at him under his hood. "Good job Shino but I think its time to go." Shino shifted into a giant hawk again before opening his beak, and Naruto shoved his victim before transforming into an eagle.


End file.
